Even with a victory to start of the 2018 season, Fountain Hills High School volleyball head coach Pete McGloin knows there is plenty of room for improvement.

The Lady Flacons faced off against Benjamin Franklin High School on Aug. 28. FHHS won all three sets, 25-20, 25-14 and 25-14.

The next match for the Lady Falcons is today, Wednesday, Sept. 5, at home against Wickenburg. The game starts at 6 p.m. FHHS plays Thursday also, away at Horizon Honors and then plays in the Coconino Classic on Sept. 7 and 8.

McGloin thought that the team’s process is still yet to reach its potential.

“The results were okay but the process was not where we need it to be,” McGloin said. “We didn’t communicate as we needed to and didn’t play with the speed that we’ll need. Both teams looked like they were playing their first match of the year.”

McGloin noted that no Falcon had a complete game but there were still a handful of players who made an impact.

“Alyssa Barbagallo gets the game ball for some great serving in the second and third sets, and finished with nine aces and 17 points off serves for the night,” McGloin said. “She really got us going and played hard. Alexa Armenta passed exceptionally well and made a big difference for our defense. Corrin Schulze and Jenn Stricker led the team in hitting with five kills apiece”

There is plenty that McGloin would like to see the Lady Falcons work on, but added that the beginning is always like this.

“As I said, our communication has to be much better,” McGloin said. “All players need to be working hard all the time and become more resilient when things aren’t going our way. We need to be much more aggressive and confident with what we’re doing. We had glimpses but we were not the team I see in practice yet, but that’s a journey every team has to make each season and this team will be really exciting when we get there.”

McGloin is hoping to see a lot of growth in players during their busy upcoming week.

“There are a lot of players fighting for time right now and I want to see them take advantage of their opportunities in games and practices,” McGloin said. “It will be interesting to see who is going to rise up in these next couple weeks and start playing Falcon volleyball.”